Rule of law, supremacy of Constitution to be maintained: CJP

ISLAMABAD: Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry on Friday observed that he pledged to uphold the rule of law and supremacy of the Constitution in the country.

A 17-member bench of the apex court is hearing the suo moto notice of news of withdrawing the notification/executive order, dated March 16, 2009, regarding restoration of the Chief Justice of Pakistan, other judges of the Supreme Court of Pakistan and chief justices/judges of the High Courts.

The CJ lamented that “whenever the court takes up any important case, rumour mills starts running”.

“Derogatory remarks have been used against the judiciary, but we are showing patience against it”, the CJ observed.

During the hearing, Attorney-General Maulvi Anwarul Haq said the news reports to this effect were baseless and should be investigated.

He argued that the Prime Minister rejected that media report immediately and a probe shall be initiated as to why such reports are being published.

However, the apex court directed the Attorney-General to submit a written statement from the government on the matter. The statement should be signed by the chief executive, the court said. Justice Ramday asked the Attorney General to tell the court how the notification could be withdrawn while Justice Javed Iqbal stated that “we are as much patriotic as those at the helm”. On the other hand, Chairman Supreme Court Bar Association Qazi Anwar stated that judiciary seemed to be on the same position as it was on November 2. He deplored that instead of rooting out the prevalent corruption the rulers are confronting the judiciary and called upon the latter to act sanely in the larger interest of the nation.